Mirror Masquerade
by jespah
Summary: A temporal interphase hits the Mirror Universe, and in 3111, Otra has a vision of a temporal, somatic and spatial switcheroo that overwhelms her.
1. 1-Chaos

_To be human is to be pure._

 _It was a family crest._

 _A man sat on what could only be described as a raised throne, where an enormous crowd stood as one in front of him. There were thousands of them, and they all thumped their own chests with their right fists and then extended their arms. As they extended their arms in front of them, parallel to the ground, they each splayed their fingers into the shape of a shark fin._

 _All were obedient, all were subordinate. They saluted as one. A man appeared, standing behind the one on the throne. The standing man touched the seated one's shoulder for a brief moment, and then bellowed, "All hail the Emperor Philip the Ninth!"_

 _The scene changed._

 _There were millions of soldiers, marching and then saluting the same way. The technology seemed more primitive, and the yell was instead to hail Philip the Sixth._

 _Another scene change, and an even older Constitution class starship, by itself, quickly dispatched half a dozen Romulan war birds. Her captain saluted an image on a view screen, as did the whole of his Bridge crew. "All hail the Emperor Philip the Fifth!"_

 _After the next scene change, there was a handsome fellow with a short haircut and a Rottweiler; the man seemed a bit bowed, as if he had recently suffered an unimaginable defeat. He made the self-same salute, but his eyes betrayed that it pained him to do so. He was most assuredly not feeling it. He addressed a viewer image as, behind him, stood a female Vulcan First Officer, a delta radiation-addled Chief Engineer, a sexpot of a sloe-eyed Communications Officer and a Denobulan doctor with a tentative Tactical Officer. There were MACOs standing guard in the back of the Bridge of that Constitution-class starship._

 _"_ _We offer this gift," the handsome guy announced and swallowed, "of the_ _ **Defiant**_ _, an advanced ship, to the Emperor Philip the Fourth. We trust we will be found worthy." He spat out the final word. "All hail!"_

 _The Emperor nodded and, near the handsome guy, there was a red-shirted Head of Security, an Asian fellow with a dueling scar on his face. The Asian guy nodded back as he sat at the pilot's station on the Bridge._

 _The scene changes then occurred more quickly, and it was seemingly forward in time to another Constitution-class vessel, where there was a human captain, a different handsome fellow, and a male Vulcan First Officer and a Captain's Woman with others. A doctor, nervous and scared, stood near them. The doctor was shot as a female Vulcan Science technician stood behind a dark-skinned man._

 _The scenes melded together in a seething cauldron of change. There was bewilderment, and there was chaos, as oil portraits of emperors and one sloe-eyed empress all changed, from one set of faces to another, far different set._

 _And then, suddenly, there was an explosion._


	2. 2-Stuck

"Otra! Can you hear me? _Otra?"_ Dr. Boris Yarin shook the half-Witannen's shoulder gently. "Come back to us. Otra!"

Admiral Carmen Calavicci rushed into the Temporal Integrity Commission's Mess Hall, where the incident was unfolding. She looked into Boris's dark eyes. "What the devil is happening?"

He shook his head for a second, light glinting briefly off his cranial ridges. The human-Klingon-Xindi sloth hybrid looked very, very concerned. He tapped his own left ear, twice, in order to engage an implanted communicator. "Yimiva? Come, and contact Doctor Chelenska as well. You and I may need to perform surgery on Otra. Chelenska may as well observe."

The Calafan doctor simply replied, "Understood, Yimiva out."

"Answer me, Boris," Carmen insisted, hovering. Behind her was Levi Cavendish, who had been having lunch with Otra. His head twitched a little, and he seemed to want to be asking the same questions as Carmen was, but he kept silent. He was just as concerned as she was.

"I think this vision is too much for Otra. If Yimiva and I cannot rouse her, we may need to remove her implants."

"What the devil good will _that_ do?"

"Buy us some time. I, I think."

=/\=

It was less than a minute later, and alarms began to go off throughout the _USS Adrenaline_ , the headquarters of the Temporal Integrity Commission.

Carmen heard a trill in her own left ear. "Yes, go ahead."

"My computers're goin' nuts here," Chief Engineer Kevin O'Connor complained.

"Do you know what the changes are?" Carmen inquired.

"I was hopin' to ask Otra," he replied.

Carmen rubbed her own temples. "She's, she's somewhat overcome. This vision of a temporal alternative must have been enormous." Nearby, Yimiva and Boris transported with a still-prone Otra to Boris's Sick Bay as Carmen and Levi watched and fretted.

=/\=

Rick Daniels and Milena Chelenska beamed in as quickly as possible. "I am still not used to that infernal machine," she complained. Her vowels were shifted, even with the Universal Translators built into everyone's implanted communicators. _Infernal_ sounded like _infairnull_ , a product of her Czech accent and the fact that she often peppered her Czech speech with Yiddish, a habit that sometimes stumped the translation matrix.

"You get used to it," assured Yimiva. She was an older Calafan, with hair. With long sleeves covering the naturally-occurring coppery scrollwork on her arms, she seemed fully human. Boris, on the other hand, did not appear human at all.

"There is _much," motch_ , "for me to get used to," Milena stated, frowning, "and I don't know what I can do for the patient. She is not a human, no? I, up until recently, it was 1969 for me, and I did not so much as know that there were others, that there was alien life on other worlds." Milena paused. "I just realized, the term, _alien_ , is it an insult to you?"

"It is not," Boris assured her, "but I trust you know that, on Tellar and Cait and Dawitan and the like, it is _you_ who are the alien."

"What's wrong with Otra?" Rick asked, cutting to the chase.

"We don't really know," Yimiva admitted. She led them to a bio bed where Otra was strapped in.

"Is the _patient," pehshent_ , "a danger to others?"

"Probably not," Boris explained, "we only want to assure that she doesn't fall out of the bed. See," he added, "Otra is half-human, and half-Witannen. There aren't too many people like her."

"What are the, the flowers?" Milena gestured at her own head.

"Those are called _chavecoi_ ," explained Yimiva. "They're not really a part of Otra. At least, they aren't in the conventional sense. It's a symbiotic relationship. The chavecoi get a place to root and, in exchange, they can photosynthesize in the event of a drought."

"So their movements, they are unaffected by her condition?" Milena inquired.

"Far as we know, that's correct," Yimiva agreed. "And as you can see, they move and change color, even though Otra herself is more or less unresponsive."

"She sees temporal alternatives," Rick said, "She's faster than Kevin's computers, and that's saying a lot. There is, by definition, some sort of change in time."

"Right," Milena replied absently, "is it normal for her to remain this way, eh, in the midst of, it's, eh, visions?"

"Yes, she calls them _visions_ ," Boris confirmed, "but they seem to be more than that now. She seems to be wholly immersed, if I had to hazard my own guess."

"Go on, you were saying something," Rick encouraged.

"Yes, these visions," Milena continued, "does Otra stay in them until the timeline is fully _repaired?" Repurred._

"No," Boris explained, "this is not normal. And I don't even know if removing her implants will help in any way. But right now, that's all I can think of doing."

Yimiva shook her head. "I'm out of ideas, too. No one wants her to remain so, so _stuck_ as this."

" _Perhaps," pareheps_ , "we should wait. After all, if this vision is a detailed one, maybe we simply need to wait until it is finished. It is not 1969. It is what, 3111? So maybe I am a horrible primitive compared to the both of you. But my medical training is telling me to, to wait a bit."

Yimiva looked at Boris. "We can always take out the implants later, if it comes to that, right?"

"True enough," he agreed. "Do we know how today is affected by whatever is happening?"

Rick clicked around on his PADD until he found something. "Here's a news broadcast from today." He hit a few keys and it was projected onto a blank wall in Boris's Sick Bay.

 _The Emperor Philip the Forty-Fifth today commanded an additional 11% in annual tribute from Andoria, in the form of iron ore. Trellium-D production was down at Ceti Alpha V as workers threatened to strike. The Emperor's Police Force assures us that the situation is well in hand, and that the rebels will receive swift and certain punishment. The phaser firing squads will see some action! In sports, the Emperor's own Conquistadors team crushed the Terran Mobsters, 14 – 6. And Empress Consort Darragh, when asked about starving rioters on New Xindus, replied, 'Let them eat olowa!' And now for the weather …._

Rick turned off the broadcast. Boris looked pained. "My wife, it seems, is suddenly the Empress Consort. She's, eh, once the line is fully restored, I should give her a biography of Marie Antoinette, I think."

"What is this Emperor?" Milena asked. " _Richard," Reesherd_ , "I thought you said you had a Federation, and it was a form of a democracy."

"Mirror universe," Rick explained, "there are, well, there are probably an infinite number of universes. Some of the differences are profound, like the Big Bang doesn't happen the way we feel is correct. In others, the differences are more subtle. Here, our universe vibrates on a 21 centimeter radiation band; it's what's called the _hydrogen line_."

"The music of the spheres, eh?" Milena quipped.

"Sort of," Yimiva concurred, "and the Mirror is at 20 centimeters. My people, we can naturally shuttle back and forth. Other species need help. But, be that as it may, the Mirror is different. They call your _Earth Terra._ And they had an Empire."

"But that Empire," Boris added, "it ended in the 24th century. And there was no Emperor Philip the Forty-fifth, or at least I don't recall one. For there to be forty-five of them with the one name, that is a lot."

Rick clicked around a bit. "There were, in the original history, four emperors called Philip. The first was the counterpart to our Colonel Philip Green, from the early part of the twenty-first century. The fourth one was assassinated by the woman who then became the Empress Hoshi Sato. She started her own dynasty; she was succeeded by two of her sons and then they were succeeded by a grand-nephew, the Emperor Charles I. There are, uh, six emperors named Charles."

"So, no more _Philips?" Feelips_.

"None," Rick confirmed. "I'm guessing the blood line goes all the way back to Green now."

"With forty-five of them," Milena speculated, "Their generations must be rather short. It seems as if they come to an _age," edge_ , "and then more or less immediately seize power."

"And somehow they're in control of our universe, our side of the pond, too," Boris added. "The divergence is at the lifetime of Empress Hoshi, I am sure."

"Look, I'll talk to Carmen about what we'll do in order to restore the line," Rick offered. "But until then, I hope you can do something for Otra." He pressed Milena's hand and then took his leave.

"I cannot do much," Milena stated truthfully. "Twentieth century medical training does not cover such _things," sings_ , "But I can be here." Boris brought over a chair and placed it next to the bio bed. "Thank you." She sat down and took Otra's hand. "Can you hear me?"

The contact helped and, suddenly, Otra was able to see the first point of divergence, from all points of view, and a second divergence as well, as if she were watching a film on the viewer.


	3. 3-Delta Radiation

**Chapter 3 – Delta Radiation**

It was an old Constitution-class ship. The dedication plaque on the Bridge identified it as the _NCC-1764_ , the _Defiant_. But the ship had, due to Tholians detonating a tricobalt warhead in the gravity well of a dead star, been shot back some 133 years in time and to the other side of the pond, the Mirror Universe.

It was that same handsome guy in command, but somehow Otra could figure out that it was a day or two previous to what she had seen before, when he had meekly surrendered the Defiant directly to his emperor.

T'Pol, a female Vulcan Science Officer, looked up from her station. "Engineering is not providing sufficient power. There is a stream of delta radiation; it appears to be interfering with the efficiency of our engines."

"Reed," asked the captain, "is it a weapons discharge?"

"Not so far as I can tell," replied the Tactical Officer, who was wearing the uniform of a MACO Major.

"Hoshi," commanded the handsome guy in charge, "get me Engineering."

Hoshi was a sexpot sloe-eyed Communications Officer with a patch on her arm that said _H. Sato_ and one rank clip, signifying that she held the rank of Ensign. She worked to comply as quickly as she could, her fingers flying over her console. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a well-built dark-skinned MACO Sergeant who came a tad closer. She gave him a secret smile. "Yes, Captain Archer." She paused, listening for something in her earpiece. "Go ahead."

"Engineering! We need more power!"

"Tucker here," was the exasperated response. "I'm doin' the best I can! This ship didn't exactly come with instructions. I'll need more muscle down here. Might need someone to pull on some of these levers; they seem to be stuck. I lost 'bout two-thirds of my staff when we came over in escape pods from the _Enterprise._ "

"Right," Archer swiveled in his chair and his eyes alit on the MACO Sergeant. "I'll send someone; Archer out." He turned to the MACO. "Get anyone left in Engineering to work on that, Mayweather. Wake 'em up if you have to."

"I'm a MACO, not a wake-up service," Travis Mayweather grumbled as Hoshi grinned.

"Get down there," Archer commanded through gritted teeth. "Go into their quarters and wake up Andreiou and Porter and Crossman personally if you have to!"

"Yes, sir!" Mayweather grinned and licked his lips, having instantly changed his mind. The idea of Jenn Crossman – one of the best-looking women on the ship – in her bed was something he wanted to see. Never mind that she shared her bed with Old Man Hayes. The idea of the slinky redhead in skimpy lingerie was making his mouth water.

Hoshi scowled at him. "Maybe the Sergeant here could pull a lever or two," she snarled, "when he's not busy pulling his own lever."

"Right," Archer agreed. "Hoshi, get another MACO up here to guard the Bridge, maybe Hayes. Mayweather, go! Now!"

"Yeah," Travis took one last look at Hoshi, who tossed her head at him, pretending to ignore him. As he left, he could hear Major Reed at the Tactical station, muttering something about lax discipline and how it could be cured with a good flogging.

=/\=

Otra's vision shifted, and she saw a different Constitution-class starship. This one was the _NCC-1701_ , the _ISS Enterprise_.

The handsome guy in the command chair was someone well-known in Mirror Universe history – a Vulcan with a goatee named Spock.

The Vulcan dryly requested, "Report, Mister Sulu."

"I'm seeing a surge of delta radiation. It's in the general vicinity of the Agony Booth," replied Sulu, an Asian guy with a large facial scar, clearly a souvenir of dueling.

"Commander," added Chekov, the fellow next to him, "it might interfere with our systems. The ion storm near the Halkan home world is bad enough." His Russian accent was somewhat similar to Milena's, but was not an identical match.

"Are Captain Kirk, Lieutenant Commander Scott, Doctor McCoy and Lieutenant Uhura en route?" Spock inquired.

"I'm seeing a transporter power beam wobble starting," Chekov reported.

"I shall investigate," Spock declared. "Mister Sulu, you will go to the location of the Agony Booth and determine what is wrong, and why there is delta radiation present."

Sulu looked at him. "That's Engineering's job."

"And most of that department is on unpaid incapacity leave due to various stints in the Booth. Now, the Booth is under your purview, Mister Sulu. Unless, of course, you wish to step aside, perhaps in favor of Mister Giotto," was the crisp Vulcan reply.

"No, sir."

As Sulu departed, Otra's vision followed him. A few decks away, the area near the Agony Booth glowed with delta radiation. "They don't pay me enough," Sulu grumbled.

As his body came in contact with the seething radiation, the vision very briefly reverted back to the _Defiant_ and over a century previously. Mayweather was coming into contact with a similar mass of glowing delta radiation. "This isn't part of my job description," he groused.

In that instant, the two men switched places, as time and space were exchanged.


	4. 4-Luck

The vision returned to the _ISS Enterprise_ , in 2267. Travis Mayweather blinked for several seconds and steadied himself. "What the hell just happened?" he asked no one. He looked down. He even had on a different uniform. He had no way of knowing this, but it was Sulu's uni. "Huh. Suddenly I'm a Lieutenant. Awright!"

A few redshirts walked by. "Who the hell are you?" asked one of them.

"Mayweather, uh, just assigned here."

"A Lieutenant?" asked one of the redshirts.

"Yes," Travis intoned, "a Lieutenant." He bounced up on his heels briefly, proud of his sudden and unexpectedly odd promotion.

The intercom came on. "All hands, this is Ensign Chekov. The captain and his landing party are back on board. That is all."

Mayweather figured out how to get to the transporter room and, as he watched, Spock escorted a rather surprised-looking Kirk as the three other members of the landing party trailed behind, with the one woman at the back. Spock didn't seem to notice Mayweather but Uhura, one fine-looking woman, did. Travis looked her up and down, and his eyes did not linger on her face. "Niiiice," he came closer. "I'm Travis, baby."

Uhura gulped when she saw him. She tugged on the back of one of her companions' sleeves. "Scotty!" she hissed in a stage whisper. "What do I do?"

Scotty and McCoy looked back at her and the doctor shrugged. "When in Rome …." He then realized what was happening. He stopped for a moment and turned back. "We don't have time for this."

"What are you gonna do about it, Old Man?" Travis's tone was one of contempt.

"Laddie, ya might wanna reconsider yer actions here," Scotty interposed himself between Travis and the rest of them.

"Enough," Kirk stated firmly. "We're busy." They went back to walking.

Uhura glared and then stopped for a second. "Lieutenant Uhura, Mister."

"An attitude, huh?" pressed Travis, still following along and still leering. "You got a stick where the sun don't shine? Let me remove that for ya, baby."

"Miss Uhura!" called the captain, "Let's stay together! Mister Spock, I think the doctor and Mister Scott can take their leaves now. I'd like to explore my options when it comes to the Halkans."

"Options, Captain?" The Vulcan eyebrow was raised slightly.

"Options, Mister Spock. Let's see if we can get what we want without destroying these people."

"Worlds that fail to comply with the Empire's wishes are destroyed. Terror must be maintained, else the Empire crumbles."

Kirk noticed the young man standing nearby and looking, perhaps, for something to do. "What's your name, Lieutenant?"

"Mayweather, sir." He grinned at Uhura. She put a hand on Scotty's arm.

"Come along with us to the Bridge, Mister, uh, Mayweather, is it?" Kirk inquired after watching the exchange.

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, well, come along, then." Uhura shot him a look, so Kirk added, "I'd like you where I can see you."

As they walked, Spock interjected, "Captain, might I remind you that this is highly irregular?"

"What is, Mister Spock?"

"Most unconventional – a new, unknown and untested person on the Bridge – and the Halkans, too, I might add."

"You might add that, yes," Kirk smiled. "But let's go anyway."

=/\=

Otra's vision changed, and she saw the _Defiant_ again. A wall chronometer display slid by with the date – _January 16th of 2155_.

The turbolift doors swished open, and Sulu found himself on the Bridge. Archer got up from the command chair immediately. "Who the hell are you?"

The pilot's chair was occupied by a slight woman with a complexion that was the color of coffee with cream. She looked up as the stranger arrived. "I'm the pilot," Sulu announced. The woman shrugged and, when he leaned over her and grabbed the front of her uniform roughly, she got up.

"Sit your skinny ass back down, Pike!" Archer commanded the woman. He addressed the newcomer, "What'd ya do with Mayweather?" Hoshi looked up, too, and eyed the new guy.

"Who?" asked Sulu.

"He was sent down to get to Engineering," Archer explained impatiently, getting in Sulu's face. "But now you're suddenly here, and it's funny, but you're a Sergeant, too. And here," he grabbed Sulu's sleeve, "T. Mayweather?" he read off the uni patch. "Hoshi, check for Mayweather's bio signs, his communicator, anything. Reed, help her."

"Bloody hell," Reed muttered, complaining under his breath as he walked over to Hoshi's station. "I still say a good flogging's in order."

"Well?" Archer asked Sulu.

"I have no idea what you're going on about. Whoever Mayweather is, we've never met."

"So why the hell are you wearing his clothes?" Archer's patience, thin at best, was very nearly gone.

"Maybe I look better in them. But," Sulu waved at Archer dismissively, "It's not like I know any of you, either." His eyes swept across the Bridge. "But some of you, I can tell already, I'd like to know … better." He glanced down at the console at the pilot's station. "Troubles?"

"There isn't enough power coming into steering and navigation," Pike explained. She looked at him. "The helm doesn't respond as quickly as it should. That's why Mayweather went to Engineering in the first place. At least, that's my understanding."

"She's right," Archer allowed, "Engineering needs to coax out more power."

"No, they don't need to," Sulu stated decisively. "Tell you what, Captain."

"Oh?"

"If I can fly this boat, without having to squeeze out more power to navigation, you'll make me the main pilot, right?"

"Sir!" Pike was a bit indignant.

"Out of the way, Shelby," Archer commanded her. "Let's see how Mister, uh, what was your name again?"

"I never said it. But it's Hikaru Sulu."

"Let's see," Archer declared, "how Sulu here does. And Reed?"

"Sir?"

"Where the hell is Mayweather?"

"He seems to be completely off the ship."

"Hoshi?" asked Archer.

"I can't find him, either," she confirmed. "He might even be dead."

"Well, Mister Sulu," said the captain, "if you can do what you say, I might even have another job for you. How's second in the MACOs sound?"

"Second?" Sulu asked.

"First is Hayes," Hoshi explained, looking Sulu up and down. "The Old Man." Her tone was dismissive.

"I'll think about it," Sulu said, sitting down. He looked over the controls. In a few minutes, they were on their way. "Well?"

"I'd say you've got the main pilot's job," Archer said. "Pike, you're on the night shift, so get out." Pike glared at them all and then left.

"What about Travis?" Hoshi asked. She wrung her hands for a second, betraying a bit of feeling, but only a miniscule amount.

Archer leered at her. "Travis who?"

=/\=

The vision returned to the _ISS Enterprise_ , but the action had shifted to the Bridge. Uhura checked their orders as Spock checked his instruments and also, surreptitiously and unsuccessfully, searched for current records of anyone named Mayweather in the Terran Starfleet database. Travis stood toward the back, a sentry, just behind the captain's chair. "Open a channel to the Halkans," commanded the captain.

"Go ahead," Uhura answered.

"We'd like your dilithium," stated the captain.

"And I'm sure you'll take it by force," replied the Halkan representative.

"You have one day to comply; Kirk out." The captain looked at them all. "I'll be in my quarters. Contact me if the Halkans surrender." He beckoned to Travis. "Come along. I bet these hallways are a bit hazardous." They departed.

"Most interesting," Spock speculated. "It would appear that his recent visit to the Halkan home world has enacted a change in the captain's mental state. Miss Uhura?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Are you, the doctor and Mister Scott similarly afflicted?"

"I can't speak for them, sir."

"Then speak for yourself. Are you loyal?"

She gulped. "I am pledged to the _Enterprise_ , sir."

=/\=

Kirk entered his quarters alone, with Mayweather just outside the door, keeping watch. Kirk found a woman stretched out on the bed. "I must've fallen asleep," the curvy brunette explained.

"Oh?"

"I heard you were actually merciful to the Halkans," she said, "It's so unlike you! I bet you're scheming."

"I … have a lot on my mind," he explained.

She got up and kissed him. "Are you too distracted? Too stressed? Let Marlena help with that."

Kirk smiled at her. "Tempting as your offer is, I …." He removed her arms from his neck as his personal communicator chirped. "Excuse me." He flipped the device open. "Kirk here."

"Cap'n," it was Scotty, "the doctor 'n I've figured out the problem. We might be able to get it solved."

"Let's talk in Sick Bay," Kirk suggested, "Kirk out." He turned to Marlena. "I'm sorry, but I have to take care of this."

"And apologizing, too! It's so unlike you. But," she sighed slightly, "sure." He left.

After he had gone, she touched a few spots on a panel hidden in the wall. "The Tantalus Field! Oh, if they only knew how the great Jim Kirk got his power. An unknown alien scientist and a plundered laboratory with this delicious invention! It's quite a useful little device." She turned a few knobs and zeroed in on various people. There was Kirk. There was Mister Spock. There was the bodyguard with Kirk, a dark-skinned Lieutenant who was wholly unfamiliar to her. And there was a female Vulcan Science technician, too. "So many choices," Marlena yawned a little, "so little time."

=/\=

In Sick Bay, Kirk conferred with Scotty and Doctor McCoy. "So you're saying that we're in a parallel universe," Kirk stated, "How do we get back?"

"We can create an opposing power surge in the transporter's circuits," Scotty explained, "It'd be a kind o' reversal of how we got here. But our disruption of the energy circuits will be noticed. I take it that it's monitored somewhere?"

"This place seems like it'd have a secret police," McCoy concurred, "I bet it's monitored on the Bridge. Either you or Uhura will need to create a distraction, Jim."

"For how long?" asked the captain.

"Five minutes, maybe. But Cap'n," Scotty added, "time's a-wastin'. The window of opportunity for returning, it's shutting, and it's shutting fast. We need to act very quickly."

"How quickly?"

"We need to be gone in less than half an hour."

"Go and do what you need to," Kirk commanded, "and we'll reconnoiter in Sick Bay. Then we'll all leave together. I'll go and get Uhura. See you in Sick Bay in ten minutes." He left.

=/\=

Otra's vision returned to the _Defiant_ , but it was later. The day shift was over, and Sulu was walking out of the Bridge. "If you're here and Mayweather's gone," it was Hoshi speaking, "you should commandeer his quarters. They're pretty nice."

"So you've seen the inside."

"I have."

"Well," Sulu concurred, "I probably should."

"I'll take you there." She sauntered on ahead of him, hips shaking in an exaggerated fashion. When they arrived and the door had closed, she turned to him. "That's not the only thing of his that you get."

"Oh?"

She took off her top. When Sulu made no move to touch her, Hoshi came closer, smiling a venomous smile. "Shy, Sulu? I wouldn't have thought."

"Not exactly," he explained.

"Well?"

"Let's just say, you're not my type."

"There aren't a lotta women," Hoshi said, "and you won't find anyone hotter than me." She didn't mention T'Pol or Jenn Crossman.

"Women can be fun at times," he allowed, "but not tonight."

"Then go talk to Jennings or maybe Haber," she suggested haughtily. She grabbed her top and put it back on. "However," Hoshi added, "there is the matter of Archer. See, I am the Captain's Woman. I have influence and I can get to him."

"Get to him? You mean to influence him, or to plunge a dagger in him at the most opportune moment?"

Hoshi grinned at him. "I leave your interpretation of my statement – and my actions – to your own fertile imagination." She went to the door and the sensor tripped. It slid open. "You won't wanna turn down this offer."

=/\=

Otra's vision returned to the _ISS Enterprise_. On the Bridge, Kirk eyed Uhura. They could see a panel at the pilot's station. It started to flash a little. He nodded, and Uhura started to cough. She got up and walked over to Spock's station, still coughing. "Mister … Spock!" She collapsed onto him as the remainder of the Bridge crew watched.

The Vulcan eyebrow was arched. "Lieutenant, you should go to Sick Bay."

"Yes, sir." The panel was still flashing. She coughed several more times.

As Spock looked up, Kirk began coughing, too. "Maybe we picked up something when we were on the surface," he offered. He coughed a few more times, for good measure.

"Captain, you, too, should go to Sick Bay," Spock suggested.

The flashing had stopped. "Good idea," Kirk said. He and Uhura departed.

Spock thought for a moment. "Mister Chekov, take command." When the order was acknowledged, he, too, departed.

=/\=

Before Spock could get to Sick Bay, he ran into the female Vulcan Science technician. "When can I see you?" she inquired.

"You are seeing me now."

"You know what I mean." She looked him up and down. "I shall be your Captain's Woman, and more."

"Soon," he stated, "Soon." He clicked open his communicator. "Mister Chekov, I shall require your assistance. Bring a Security team and rendezvous with me at Sick Bay; Spock out." He strode over to Sick Bay and she followed. And, unseen by them, Marlena was behind her.

When the doors to Sick Bay swished open, they found Kirk, McCoy, Mister Scott and Uhura in there. "Ah, the entire landing party," Spock stated. "It has been most curious to me, but now I know. It is confirmed. You are from a parallel dimension, another universe."

"Is this true?" It was Marlena doing the asking. They all turned to the sound of her voice.

"Yes," Kirk confirmed.

"Then take me with you," Marlena asked.

The female Vulcan agreed. "Yes, take her!"

"I, we can't," Kirk explained. "We only have power balanced for four."

The door swished open again. It was Travis. "Captain! Security's coming! There must be a good fifty of them!"

"That would be Mister Chekov," Spock stated. "Captain, you cannot leave. I have been working under your counterpart for years. I have no desire to return to serving under him. And I suspect that Lieutenant Moreau here is tired of being under him as well."

Scotty exclaimed, "The power's only balanced for four! And time is runnin' out!"

Kirk looked at Mayweather with pleading eyes. "Help us, Travis."

"What's in it for me?"

"Just help us, blast you!" McCoy yelled angrily.

"Those!" The female Vulcan Science technician pointed, and Travis followed her gesture. "They will take everything from you if given half the chance!" And, she did not add, they were the most logical to remove if she was going to realize her own ambitions. Eliminating Spock and the current Captain's Woman would cripple Kirk, and to get rid of Marlena Moreau meant getting her onto that transporter pad. The engineer would be needed for operating the device, possibly, and this softer version of Kirk would have to go, too. She sensed that he would be harder to get rid of if his Communications Officer was gone. And as for the doctor? Mayweather was already annoyed with him. He – Mayweather – would prove easy to manipulate. And then, if she wanted to, she could go even further – perhaps the Emperor himself would be interested?

It was a quick two shots, and McCoy and Spock were both vaporized on the spot. "Well?" Travis yelled, turning his phaser in their general direction. "Get out if you're going!"

Kirk, Scotty and Uhura all stared for a moment and then ran to the transporter, with Marlena right after them and Security hot on their heels. Once they got there, Scotty breathed, "Like I told you, the power's balanced for four. I dinna have the time to recalculate it, and we're down to less'n five minutes!"

Marlena looked at them and begged, "Then let me be your fourth. Please. Security is coming and it's going to be chaos here." Kirk nodded, and the four of them transported, crossing over to the 21 centimeter radiation band universe.

Back in Sick Bay, Travis was left with the female Vulcan Science technician. "You can have power," she explained, "There is no logical reason why you cannot."

"Huh." He smiled, and then grabbed her around her small waist. "I suppose I can. I never thought about that before, not even with Hoshi. How can I ever thank you, uh …?"

She looked into his eyes meaningfully. "Make me your Captain's Woman. My name is T'Pring."


	5. 5-Power

Sulu strode to the _Defiant_ 's Mess Hall quickly, as Otra's vision reverted back to that scene.

He'd had a helluva day already, with a longer than average combined shift on two separate ships, and hadn't eaten in a while. But the sight that greeted him was far from welcoming.

The Mess Hall was crowded and dirty and smelly. The few women on board were groped if they weren't with someone. He saw a striking redhead – her patch said _J. Crossman_ – being squired around by an older fellow, a MACO Major with a uniform patch that said _D. Hayes_. A female MACO – _D. Haddon_ – was with a male MACO – _C. Masterson._ But otherwise the women were free agents.

Pike approached him. He'd taken her job not ten hours previously. "No hard feelings," he offered.

She eyed him. "Want a piece o' this?"

"Uh, no thanks."

The guy who was serving up the slop that passed as their food was tall. He had dark, smoldering eyes and dark hair that was thinning a little. His uni patch said _P. Jennings_. Jennings – Hoshi Sato had mentioned him.

Sulu approached with a plate in hand. Jennings took one look at him and sneered, "Who the hell are you?"

Sulu replied by running his tongue over his own front teeth and gazing at the man meaningfully. "I'm your new best buddy."

"Oh? I get off shift in an hour."

"You'll get off in an hour and a half."

Before Jennings could continue the flirtation any further, there was a communications alert. One of the free agent women smacked a wall panel. "Sloane here."

"Emperor's calling," was the response, "senior day shift better be on the Bridge. You got ten minutes; Curtis out."

Sulu followed the others out, the food and Jennings forgotten for the moment. He found himself in the turbolift with Hoshi and Captain Archer. "I won't just hand over the _Defiant_ ," Archer complained.

"If you had more backing …" Hoshi ventured.

"I could take him on if I did. This is a great prize. I deserve this," Archer whined. "I should have the power. I should have the backing."

"But you don't," Sulu interrupted sharply, "You don't have a choice in the matter."

The doors swished open, and they were treated to the sight of Doctor Phlox barely holding a huge Rottweiler on a lead. The dog was straining and growling, but he stopped once he saw and sniffed Archer. "What's Porthos doing up here?" inquired the dog's master.

"I was walking him when I was summoned to the Bridge. Really, some low-level lackey like Jennings should be performing this sort of grunt work," groused the Denobulan physician.

Reed and Tucker were at their stations already. They both blanched when they saw Porthos. Reed sneezed a few times. Tucker snarled, "I'm not cleanin' up after that, that animal again." T'Pol, at her station, raised an eyebrow slightly.

Hoshi grabbed the earpiece from Curtis, who was in a MACO uniform. "Gimme that," she demanded angrily. She held the earpiece in her hand, looking for something to wipe it on, and ended up grabbing the hem of his jacket.

"Hey!" Curtis yelled.

"Make it quick," Archer cautioned, "or we'll all get disciplined."

"Just a second," she whined. "Now, get out, Tris!" Tristan Curtis hightailed it out of there.

"This is the _Defiant,_ " Hoshi announced as Sulu eased into his seat and smiled at the view screen. "Go ahead, Emperor Philip the Fourth."

"All hail, Emperor Philip the Fourth!" Archer bellowed, slamming his chest with his right fist and then extending his arm, while simultaneously splaying the fingers of his right hand out like a shark fin.

"I have seen your ship," the Emperor replied, without preamble. "I do so love a show of force. You will bring it to Terra at once for study, or face annihilation, no matter how long it takes. Everyone on board will be subject to execution if you do not comply. I will visit in one hour. Be ready."

Archer smacked his own chest again, and bowed his head. "We offer this gift," he announced and swallowed, "of the _Defiant_ , an advanced ship, to the Emperor Philip the Fourth. We trust we will be found worthy." He spat out the final word. "All hail!"

=/\=

When the appointed time arrived, Sulu went with Archer to a conference room. Hayes and Reed fell in with them, following behind. "Do you think," Reed ventured, asking Hayes, "The Emperor will provide some blondes? I'm getting awfully tired of Porter and Cutler."

"I dunno," Hayes grunted his response.

They passed Jennings in the hallway as they walked. "Follow along," Sulu said to him. Jennings complied.

The Emperor was already there, with three guards. One, probably underage, had B _. Delacroix_ on his uni patch. A tall guy, with even thinner hair than Jennings, had a patch that said _J. Torres_. The third was a good-looking guy with a patch that said _A. Miller._ The Emperor's three MACO guards had older-style phase rifles, whereas Sulu, Reed and Hayes had the new phasers that had been found when the _Defiant_ had been seized. "Where's Forrest?" the Emperor snapped.

"When we abandoned the _Enterprise_ ," Archer explained, "we lost a lot of people. We're down to only a dozen women. And Forrest, too, was a casualty."

"Right," scoffed Miller.

"Bring your women here," commanded the Emperor.

Archer nodded to Reed, who opened a communicator. "The following personnel are to come to the main conference room on the double – T'Pol, Cutler, Sato, Porter, Jones, Sloane, Andreiou, Balcescu, Socorro, Haddon, Pike and Crossman."

The women arrived and the Emperor appraised them like pieces of meat. "Too old," he said to Porter, "too plain," he complained to Socorro. "Too butch," he snapped at Haddon and Jones. Pretty soon, he had the group whittled down to five – Pike, Crossman, T'Pol, Sloane and Sato. He approached the redhead immediately. "You're to come with me." She glanced over for a second at Hayes. The only betrayal of his feelings was a slight brow twitch.

"Miller, Delacroix and Torres will stay and … supervise. Pick three of the four for yourselves," he told them.

Miller was apparently the senior one of the three. He grabbed Sato by the arm. Archer lunged at him.

The next few moments happened so quickly that Otra barely registered them. Sulu, Delacroix and Torres all drew their weapons, and then Hayes and Reed did as well. In the confusion, a number of shots were fired, from both the older-style phase rifles and from the newer phasers. There were scorch marks on the walls where shots missed.

When the smoke cleared, Delacroix and Torres had been vaporized, leaving Miller still holding onto Sato's arm, which was now injured with a phaser burn. Archer then fell, dead, a large phaser burn in his chest.

"Well, well, well," commented the Emperor. "Now it's five men and four women! Work it out amongst yourselves. And I'll need a captain for this vessel. Miller will stay as an … observer."

"Me, sir," Reed volunteered, appetite whetted.

"No, not you; you're far too eager," the Emperor's eyes narrowed. "You." He indicated Hayes.

"I'm just a soldier, sir. I have no such ambitions."

"Then you," the Emperor said to Sulu. "Pick your Captain's Woman and I'll be off with this one." He nodded at Crossman, who was still a bit in shock at the turn of affairs.

Sulu pulled Jennings close to him. "I don't need a Captain's Woman."

"For appearances' sake, you do," the Emperor insisted, "I don't give a rat's ass what you do in bed, but women are rare. A captain must always have one, no matter what he does or doesn't do with her. Now, choose!"

Pike was already nodding at Hayes. Reed was already looking Sloane up and down, even though she wasn't a blonde. Miller was still holding Hoshi by her injured arm, and they had locked eyes.

"The Vulcan," Sulu replied, eying T'Pol.

"Excellent choice," commended the Emperor.


	6. 6-Unstuck

The half-Witannen's eyes fluttered slightly. " _Temporal interphase_ ," Otra whispered.

"Speak to me, Otra!" Boris called out.

" _Delta … radiation_ ," she murmured, _"2155 …_ _Defiant_ _… Mayweather_ ," she paused, " _2267 … Sulu._ " Her eyes closed completely again.

"Is she all right?" Milena asked, in some alarm.

"Otra is now sleeping," Yimiva reported after checking. "This vision was apparently exhausting."

Rick was already tapping his left ear. "Yeah, Carmen? I think we finally have something. And it looks like Otra's gonna be okay."

=/\=

Carmen decided on two fast missions, one to each time period, using time portals. Time ships would have been too much bother. Rick was sent to 2267; Carmen herself went to 2155.

In 2155, Carmen accosted a flirty Travis Mayweather as he made his way to Engineering on the _Defiant_. "Got a minute for a little girl who's lost?" she inquired, sidling up to him.

He leered at her. "I got all the time in the world, baby."

She had on a phaser ring on her right hand. She touched his temple with that hand and then used her thumb to dial back the setting, hitting him with heavy stun. He had a stupid smile on his face as he was knocked out. She waited until the delta radiation had dissipated and then departed, leaving him in a corridor to sleep it off.

=/\=

On the _ISS Enterprise_ , 133 years later, Rick stood at attention near the Agony Booth, pretending to guard it. "Who the hell are _you?"_ asked Security Chief Giotto, eying the newcomer with suspicion.

Rick, too, had a phaser ring. Instead of answering, Giotto was hit with the moderate stun setting and his body was dragged into a nearby lab that had been converted to equipment storage.

As Sulu approached, he drew his phaser. "A stowaway?" he asked.

"No, I'm just the guy who cleans up," Rick replied. Sulu joined the small fraternity of stunned men, and was placed in the storage room next to Giotto. Rick put Sulu's phaser away. "Heh, maybe you guys'll wake up and think of something other than shooting each other." Once the delta radiation of 2267 had dispersed, Rick left, using a time portal.

=/\=

Back in 3111, a few days later, Otra sat up in a Sick Bay bio bed as many of her concerned coworkers stopped by to check on her. "I'm feeling so much better," she said. Her chavecoi waved and turned pastel colors. "Seems the petunias agree with me."

The Sick Bay doors opened, and a figure staggered in who could not readily be seen, as that person had an enormous bouquet in their arms, blocking that person's face and, likely, their vision.

"Did you know about this?" Rick whispered to Milena.

" _Absolutely_ ," _ebsoluttly_ , "nothing."

The gigantic, nearly two meter-high bouquet was set down a bit roughly on the floor in front of Otra's bed. Her chavecoi began to really bounce. "Take it easy, you crocuses," she murmured to them. "Oh, you shouldn't have," she added, now addressing everyone.

"This is apparently only from one person," Carmen explained. "The rest of us gave you a box of chocolate-covered Andorian red bats." She indicated a box.

A face peered out from behind the big bouquet. "I, uh, I wanted to," Levi stammered. "Don't know what I would do if, if you were stuck for, for good."

Carmen nodded her head slightly in the direction of the door. The rest of the group quickly departed, even Boris and Yimiva.

"I'm okay," Otra explained, "I'm not stuck anymore. I think it was bad because it was the mirror only, and it was a combined temporal, spatial and somatic interphase."

"Yeah, uh, probably." Levi bit his lower lip and hung back. "I, um, I should go, too, now that you're unstuck."

"Don't."

"Don't?"

" _Don't._ " The chavecoi calmed down for a moment. "Don't ever go."


End file.
